The Montreal Canadiens are battling a few injuries up front right now. Adding some free, cheap depth for a short stint would be nice. That’s why an Austin Czarnik waiver claim might make sense.
The Montreal Canadiens are in a snail’s race for a playoff berth in the Atlantic Division at the moment. The Boston Bruins are the only consistent team in the division and even they have hit a wall lately. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs have been far worse than predicted and the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres, as well as the Habs have failed to take advantage.
What we are now looking at is an Atlantic Division that could see a team clinch a playoff berth with far less points than a year ago. Remember when the Canadiens had 96 points and missed out on the 2019 postseason? Well, it’s starting to look like a repeat performance could give them home ice in the first round of the 2020 postseason.
Now, there is a lot of hockey left to play and someone other than the Bruins will likely get hot and push for 100 points. However, we haven’t seen enough consistency from any of the other division rivals to be certain that will be the case.
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What that means is the race for the postseason could have a lower bar than a year ago. If it does, it could also have more horses in the race. Basically, last year we saw Donovan Bailey go head to head with Michael Johnson, and this year we have five babies racing at halftime of a Detroit Pistons game.
Anyway, I still want the Habs to win the baby race. It’s still a playoff race, it just has more moments where you think they are the worst team in the league.
Right now, the Habs are sitting in third place in their division but they are on pace for 91 points. Will it be enough to get in? Maybe. But with the Leafs, Lightning, Panthers and Sabres all battling for the second and third guaranteed playoff spots in the division (it is looking like the wildcard spots will both go to Metropolitan Division teams) the Habs can’t afford any more slip ups.
The Habs are currently fighting the injury bug. Left wingers Paul Byron and Jonathan Drouin have been out for a month and are not on the current trip with the team that doesn’t wrap up until Christmas. Victor Mete and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are on the trip, but haven’t fully joined the team in practice yet.
That means the Habs are relying on their 13th, 14th and 15th forwards to play regularly and contribute. This has Nick Suzuki centering a third line between Nick Cousins and Jordan Weal and has Riley Barber playing every night on the fourth line with Nate Thompson and Ryan Poehling.
There is not a lot of scoring coming from those units. With Drouin and Byron still not close to returning, the Habs could use an upgrade in the bottom six. It’s hard to make trades at this time of year, as teams aren’t usually looking to ship out players until closer to the deadline, but there is one interesting player available.
Austin Czarnik was placed on waivers yesterday by the Calgary Flames. He has been injured for a few weeks and just wrapped up a conditioning stint with the Stockton Heat of the American Hockey League. Now that he is healthy, he needs to pass through waivers before he can join the Heat lineup full time.
The Flames were in a bit of a tough spot as they replaced Czarnik in the lineup with Dillon Dube and called up Zac Rinaldo. Both have played quite well for the Flames recently and the team has caught fire after the unceremonious departure of their coach. Not wanting to mess with what is working, they have chosen to put a skilled player on waivers instead of a gritty veteran like Rinaldo.
They made the same choice a few years ago, putting a skilled, fast winger named Paul Byron on waivers and keeping Brandon Bollig on the NHL roster. The Habs claimed Byron and he turned into a really solid player for them.
Could they do the same again today? Czarnik has been a huge scorer at the AHL level for a few years, but hasn’t put up a ton of point in the NHL. In 160 career games at the AHL level, Czarnik scored 158 points. He ripped apart the NCAA for four straight years before turning pro, but the 27 year old winger has 38 points in 121 career NHL games.
He is a skilled player, no doubt, and has a decent amount of experience at the NHL level. He is a versatile forward that can play any forward position. He just might be a better fit on the third line short term than Weal or Cousins. His skill would be a nice complement to Suzuki who is at center on that line.
With three forwards currently out of the lineup with injury, the Habs could definitely use the extra body. If he doesn’t find chemistry right away, he could easily be placed on waivers and sent down to help the Laval Rocket when the Canadiens get healthy.
Or, he could be an upgrade on Weal and find a regular spot in the lineup for the rest of the season. He is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and makes $1.35 million this year which the Habs can easily digest.
There is really no downside for the Canadiens. We all know the best case scenario when claiming a skilled player from the Calgary Flames. That player, Byron, is hurt right now and the Habs could use a replacement. Could Byron’s short term replacement be acquired via waivers from the Flames as well?